diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 37987f6b..f036eeeb 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,10 @@ Please note that compatibility for 0.x releases (software or repositories) isn't
 
 _When adding new entries to the changelog, please include issue/PR numbers wherever possible._
 
+## 0.15.1 (UNRELEASED)
+
+- Prevented committing local changes to linked datasets. [#953](https://github.com/koordinates/kart/pull/953)
+
 ## 0.15.0
 
 ### Major changes
diff --git a/docs/pages/s3.rst b/docs/pages/s3.rst
index 95ec132d..3a792286 100644
--- a/docs/pages/s3.rst
+++ b/docs/pages/s3.rst
@@ -71,9 +71,8 @@ Kart uses a standard AWS SDK to fetch data from S3. AWS credentials are loaded f
 Editing Tiles
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
-Currently, Kart does not write to S3 on the user's behalf for any reason. Any edits made to the linked dataset will be stored
-in Kart, and will work the same as in any other dataset - the modified tiles will not be linked to any particular URL, and they
-will not be written back to S3.
+Currently, Kart does not write to S3 on the user's behalf for any reason. This means linked datasets cannot be edited by modifying
+the working copy - committing such changes is prevented.
 
 Users may opt to write the required changes to S3 themselves, at which point they can use the ``kart import --replace-existing --link``
 command to create a new version of the linked dataset. However, when doing so, take care not to overwrite any of the original tiles
diff --git a/kart/base_diff_writer.py b/kart/base_diff_writer.py
index afe6c23a..e594a218 100644
--- a/kart/base_diff_writer.py
+++ b/kart/base_diff_writer.py
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@
 from kart.exceptions import CrsError, InvalidOperation
 from kart.key_filters import RepoKeyFilter
 from kart import list_of_conflicts
-from kart.list_of_conflicts import ListOfConflicts
 from kart.promisor_utils import FetchPromisedBlobsProcess, object_is_promised
 from kart.repo import KartRepoState
 from kart.spatial_filter import SpatialFilter
@@ -83,7 +82,7 @@ def __init__(
         # used by json-lines diffs only
         diff_estimate_accuracy=None,
         # used by html diff only
-        html_template=None
+        html_template=None,
     ):
         self.repo = repo
         self.commit_spec = commit_spec
@@ -115,6 +114,7 @@ def __init__(
             self.spatial_filter_conflicts = RepoKeyFilter()
 
         self.list_of_conflicts_warnings = []
+        self.linked_dataset_changes = set()
 
         self.output_path = self._check_output_path(
             repo, self._normalize_output_path(output_path)
@@ -226,6 +226,7 @@ def write_warnings_footer(self):
         """For writing any footer that is not part of the diff itself. Generally just writes warnings to stderr."""
         self.write_spatial_filter_conflicts_warning_footer()
         self.write_list_of_conflicts_warning_footer()
+        self.write_linked_dataset_changes_warning_footer()
 
     def write_spatial_filter_conflicts_warning_footer(self):
         """
@@ -288,6 +289,23 @@ def write_list_of_conflicts_warning_footer(self):
         for warning in self.list_of_conflicts_warnings:
             click.echo(f"  {warning}", err=True)
 
+    def write_linked_dataset_changes_warning_footer(self):
+        if not self.linked_dataset_changes:
+            return
+        click.secho(
+            "Warning: changes to linked datasets cannot be committed.",
+            bold=True,
+            err=True,
+        )
+        click.echo(
+            "To update a linked dataset, re-import from the source with both --link and --replace-existing.\n"
+            "To discard these changes, use `kart reset --discard-changes`.",
+            err=True,
+        )
+        click.echo("Linked datasets with uncommitted changes:", err=True)
+        for ds_path in sorted(self.linked_dataset_changes):
+            click.echo(f"  {ds_path}", err=True)
+
     def write_diff(self, diff_format=DiffFormat.FULL):
         """Default implementation for writing a diff. Subclasses can override."""
         # Entered when -o is text
@@ -322,6 +340,8 @@ def write_ds_diff_for_path(self, ds_path, diff_format=DiffFormat.FULL):
         list_of_conflicts.extract_error_messages_from_dataset_diff(
             ds_path, ds_diff, self.list_of_conflicts_warnings
         )
+        if self.include_wc_diff:
+            self._check_for_linked_dataset_changes(ds_path, ds_diff)
         self.write_ds_diff(ds_path, ds_diff, diff_format=diff_format)
         return has_changes
 
@@ -386,6 +406,9 @@ def get_repo_diff(self, include_files=True, diff_format=DiffFormat.FULL):
         list_of_conflicts.extract_error_messages_from_repo_diff(
             repo_diff, self.list_of_conflicts_warnings
         )
+        if self.include_wc_diff:
+            for ds_path, ds_diff in repo_diff.items():
+                self._check_for_linked_dataset_changes(ds_path, ds_diff)
         return repo_diff
 
     def get_dataset_diff(self, ds_path, diff_format=DiffFormat.FULL):
@@ -707,6 +730,11 @@ def _get_old_or_new_dataset(self, ds_path):
             dataset = self.target_rs.datasets().get(ds_path)
         return dataset
 
+    def _check_for_linked_dataset_changes(self, ds_path, ds_diff):
+        dataset = self._get_old_or_new_dataset(ds_path)
+        if dataset and dataset.get_meta_item("linked-storage.json") and ds_diff:
+            self.linked_dataset_changes.add(ds_path)
+
 
 class FeatureDeltaFetcher:
     """
diff --git a/kart/commit.py b/kart/commit.py
index 3a1b7cd9..f3b3b772 100644
--- a/kart/commit.py
+++ b/kart/commit.py
@@ -169,6 +169,9 @@ def commit(
             "(this will overwrite some existing features that are outside of the current spatial filter)",
             exit_code=SPATIAL_FILTER_CONFLICT,
         )
+    if commit_diff_writer.linked_dataset_changes:
+        commit_diff_writer.write_warnings_footer()
+        raise InvalidOperation("Aborting commit due to changes to linked datasets.")
 
     do_json = output_format == "json"
     commit_msg = None
diff --git a/tests/data/linked-dataset-with-tiles.tgz b/tests/data/linked-dataset-with-tiles.tgz
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4832da44
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/data/linked-dataset-with-tiles.tgz differ
diff --git a/tests/linked_storage/test_workingcopy.py b/tests/linked_storage/test_workingcopy.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e03d03df
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/linked_storage/test_workingcopy.py
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+from kart.repo import KartRepo
+from kart.exceptions import INVALID_OPERATION
+
+
+def test_read_only_linked_datasets(
+    data_archive,
+    cli_runner,
+    check_lfs_hashes,
+    check_tile_is_reflinked,
+):
+    # Currently, we don't allow users to edit linked datasets except by doing a full linked re-import.
+    # This avoids a confusing situation where linked datasets are gradually replaced with unlinked tiles sourced locally.
+    with data_archive("linked-dataset-with-tiles") as repo_path:
+        r = cli_runner.invoke(["lfs+", "fetch", "HEAD", "--dry-run"])
+        assert r.exit_code == 0, r.stderr
+        assert r.stdout.splitlines() == [
+            "Running fetch with --dry-run:",
+            "  Found nothing to fetch",
+        ]
+        repo = KartRepo(repo_path)
+        check_lfs_hashes(repo, expected_file_count=16)
+
+        r = cli_runner.invoke(["diff", "--exit-code"])
+        assert r.exit_code == 0
+
+        (repo_path / "auckland" / "auckland_0_0.laz").rename(
+            repo_path / "auckland" / "new.laz"
+        )
+
+        r = cli_runner.invoke(["diff"])
+        assert (
+            r.stderr.splitlines()[0]
+            == "Warning: changes to linked datasets cannot be committed."
+        )
+
+        r = cli_runner.invoke(["commit", "-m", "yolo"])
+        assert r.exit_code == INVALID_OPERATION
+        assert (
+            r.stderr.splitlines()[-1]
+            == "Error: Aborting commit due to changes to linked datasets."
+        )